FAFSA confusion - which parents report? Biological dad vs. stepfather income requirements

For the FAFSA, you only need to report information for the parent(s) with whom the student lived for the majority of the 12 months prior to filing. Since your son has lived with you and your husband, you would report both of your information as the residential parents. The biological father's information is NOT required since he doesn't live with your son. Regarding your income not being asked for - that's definitely not right. The FAFSA should collect information from both you and your husband if you're married and living together. I'd recommend starting over with the application. Make sure when you get to the parent section, you're selecting that you're married, and it should prompt for both of your information. The new FAFSA has had some technical issues since the redesign.

omg same thing happened to my sister last week! the new system is SO buggy. it only asked for her husband's info but not hers either. she ended up having to call fsa and they told her it was a known issue with married couples sometimes. def start over

I had to deal with this exact situation last year! For blended families, FAFSA only cares about who the student LIVES with. So if your son lives with you and your husband, then only you two report. Bio dad is completely irrelevant for FAFSA purposes. But the system DEFINITELY should have asked for your income too! The SAI calculation needs both parents' income if you're married. Maybe try a different browser? The new FAFSA system has been a nightmare.

When I encountered this exact problem (FAFSA not asking for my income, only my spouse's), I spent HOURS trying to get through to an actual human at FSA. After getting disconnected three times, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real FAFSA agent in about 14 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed it was a known glitch and walked me through manually adding my income information. Saved me so much frustration!

THE WHOLE FAFSA SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!!!! My daughter lost her scholarship bc these idiots cant make a working website!!! We had the SAME EXACT PROBLEM with parent info missing and when we finally got it fixed they said the SAI was calculated wrong the first time!!! This is peoples FUTURES they are messing with!!!

Let me clarify the parent contribution rules for FAFSA: 1. For divorced, separated, or never-married parents, FAFSA only considers the residential parent(s) - the parent(s) with whom the student lived for the majority of the past 12 months. 2. If that parent has remarried (as in your case), the stepparent's information must also be included. 3. The biological father who has never lived with the student is NOT considered for FAFSA purposes. Regarding the technical issue you're experiencing: this is a documented bug in the new FAFSA system affecting some married households where it fails to collect income information from one parent. Here's what to do: 1. Try clearing your browser cache and cookies, then restart the application 2. If that doesn't work, try a different browser 3. If still experiencing issues, contact Federal Student Aid directly 4. Be sure to verify your Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation after submission - an incomplete parent section will result in an incorrect SAI Documentation for stepparent rules: https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info

Quick update on my similar situation - I finally got through to FSA and they explained that sometimes the system has a glitch where if you check certain boxes about your tax filing status, it can skip the income questions for one parent. The agent had me delete the application and start over, being super careful about how I answered the tax filing questions. That fixed it for me!

just wondering did u finally get it to work?? im about to start mine and now im scared lol

So glad you got it resolved! For anyone else dealing with this issue, here are some additional tips that might help: 1. Make sure you're using the most up-to-date version of your browser 2. If you're married and filing taxes jointly, be very explicit about selecting "Married filing jointly" - the system seems to have trouble with this step 3. Don't rush through the parent information section - take your time with each question 4. If you get stuck, screenshot where the system stops asking for information so you can reference it when calling FSA The new FAFSA has definitely been a learning curve for everyone. Thanks for sharing your experience - it'll help other families in similar situations!

As someone who works in financial aid, I want to emphasize a few key points for anyone dealing with similar FAFSA issues: 1. **Parent definition for FAFSA**: You only report the parent(s) who provide more than 50% of the student's support AND with whom the student lived the most during the 12 months prior to filing. In blended families like yours, this means you (biological mother) + stepfather, NOT the non-custodial biological father. 2. **The income glitch is real**: We've seen this repeatedly where the system fails to collect one parent's income information, especially in married households. It's a known technical issue that Federal Student Aid is aware of. 3. **Important verification step**: After you successfully submit, double-check your Student Aid Report (SAR) to ensure both parents' income information appears correctly. An incomplete parent section will significantly affect your Expected Family Contribution calculation. 4. **Deadline reminder**: Don't let technical issues delay your submission past state deadlines. If you can't resolve it online, call FSA directly and explain the technical problem - they can sometimes process corrections manually. Glad you got it sorted out! The new FAFSA system has definitely had more bugs than expected, but most issues can be resolved with persistence.

This thread has been so helpful! I'm dealing with a similar blended family situation and was also confused about which parents to include. Reading through everyone's experiences with the income glitch makes me feel better knowing it's not just user error. One thing I wanted to add for anyone else going through this - when I called FSA about a different issue last month, the representative mentioned that they're working on fixes for these technical problems, but in the meantime they recommend having all your tax documents ready before starting the application. That way if you do encounter the income glitch, you can provide the information over the phone when you call for help. Also, @Omar Hassan's point about checking the Student Aid Report afterward is so important. My friend discovered her SAR was missing her mom's income entirely and had to file a correction, which delayed her aid package. Better to catch these errors early! Thanks everyone for sharing your solutions - this community is so valuable for navigating these FAFSA headaches!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm about to start my FAFSA application and have a very similar situation - my daughter lives with me and my husband (her stepfather), while her biological father lives in another state and has minimal involvement. I was really worried about whether I'd need to track down his financial information. Reading through everyone's experiences with the income glitch is both reassuring and concerning. It's good to know it's not user error, but frustrating that such an important system has these bugs. I'm definitely going to follow the advice here about being very careful with the "Married filing jointly" selection and having all our tax documents ready before I start. The tip about checking the Student Aid Report afterward is something I never would have thought to do - thank you to everyone who mentioned that! It sounds like that's a crucial step to catch any calculation errors. Has anyone noticed if certain browsers work better than others for avoiding these glitches? I want to set myself up for success from the start.